And Then It Didn't Happen
by tardis bels
Summary: Also known as 5 Times the Doctor nearly kissed Rose Tyler... Follows certain episodes of Season 2
1. Tooth & Claw

**After "Tooth and Claw"**

"Dame Rose" The Doctor laughed, dancing around the coral blue pillars, flicking nubs and switches.

"Sir Doctor" Rose smiled, coming up to stand beside him, linking her arm in his. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of her tongue-in-cheek smile.

The familiar _vwrop vworp _of the TARDIS created a comforting hum around them, and Rose bit her lip, contemplating the decision to stand up on her tippy toes and press her lips to his.

His internal war was the same, but greater.

The TARDIS jerked, and knocked them both back onto the grating, distracting them both from their reverie.

And then it didn't happen.


	2. School Reunion

**After "School Reunion"**

"Did you mean what you said?" Rose asked, curled up in the captain's chair.

"What?" the Doctor asked, glancing back towards his blond companion.

"About" Rose tried to steady her nerves. "About never leaving me behind"

The Doctor twisted around to face her, kneeling down and taking her hands in his. "Rose..." he looked her in the eye, wishing he could explain just what she meant to him. _Or maybe I could just show her. _He thought to himself. "Rose" he freed one of his hands, placing it under her chin to lift it up to look towards him. "Rose, I-"

"Doctor!" Mickey screamed from the hallway. "I can't find that...one door you keep talking about"

The Doctors face dropped. "Rose, look at me." he forced her eyes to meet his. "I'm never going to abandon you like that." He squeezed her hands lightly before dropping them to go tend to Mickey.  
And then it didn't happen.


	3. Girl In The Fireplace

_a/n I'm not quite sure if I got Rose correct in this chapter. I don't think she was baby enough to have exploded on the Doctor after losing Reinette, but I do believe she was hurt by what happened. I had a hatred for Reinette for a long time, but not so much anymore. I think this is what would have happened if she'd just let it all go._**  
**

**After "The Girl in the Fireplace"**

The Doctor switched levers and ringed bells, his enthusiasm lacking it's usual spark. Rose sat in the captain's chair, her knees curled up into her chest again.

"I think I'll go take a dip in the hot tub" Mickey said, excusing himself from the console room "5 and a half hours on a 51st century alien spaceship, my back hurts" he rambled, unsure of what to do with the nail-biting tension.

"Doctor" Rose whispered, pushing herself up from the chair. "Doctor you promised" her voice rose, turning angry. "You promised you'd never leave me."

"Rose, I didn't mean-" The Doctor quickly tried to defend himself.

"No. You- you promised. Tell me what was so special, Doctor. Tell me why you chose her. What was it? Was it the hair? Was it the fact that she was _French_?" Rose spat. She knew she was hurting the Doctor, but she didn't care at this point, she was too hurt herself.

"Rose, it was never- it was never like that" the Doctor attempted once more to defend himself towards her accusations.

"Then what was it? Because it sure looked like you kissed a french mistress, forgot about Mickey and myself while you got drunk and _danced _with her, and crashed through a mirror to save her, leaving Mickey and I stranded. What was the object of that? Did you want to do more _dancing _with her?" she screamed. "You left me!" her voice kept rising. "You promised you'd never leave and I'm sorry I'll be a better friend later but you _left._" She sulked back into the captain's chair, burrowing her head in her hands.

"Rose..I only left because-" Where was he supposed to start this? He couldn't simply say he was trying to get away from her, because she'd storm off and never hear his reasoning. He wasn't supposed to be falling in lo- he wasn't supposed to feel that way about anyone, especially not a human, especially not his companion, his best friend. He settled for the only thing he could think of "Rose, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again"

She looked up at him, her face still angry, but her eyes softening. He wanted so badly to press against her pink plump lips, to show her just how sorry he was. He brought his hand to her face, cradling her cheek.

Now. He has to do it now. He can't go another day without her knowing how he feels. He closed his eyes, just trying to build up that courage, leaning in just a bit and-

"Doctor!" Mickey yelled, "I can't figure out how to turn the jets-oh" He stopped, his eyes focused on the sight of the Doctor and Rose's intimate position. "I'll just-" he turned on his heel to walk away.

"Nonsense" The Doctor raised from his position, removing his hands from Rose's face, aching at the absence of Rose's skin. "You know what, I think we could all use a nice little relaxation." He held his hand out to Rose "Come on"

She looked up and smiled a small smile, taking his hand into her own.

And then it didn't happen.


	4. Rise of the Cybermen

**After "The Age of Steel"**

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked, glancing back at his companion, who had taken up her usual residence in the captain's chair.

Rose quickly wiped the tears off her face, attempting to hide her shame from the Doctor. "'m fine" she responded quickly, attempting to hide her face.

"You can talk to me, you know" the Doctor said, sliding into the jump seat. "I know this is hard."

"S'okay, I'll be fine." She said, pushing herself up from the chair and making her way towards her bedroom, somewhere.

The Doctor laid his head back, contemplating the loss of Mickey the idiot. He had grown to quite like the fellow, had definitely saved him on more than one occasion. He couldn't really blame him for wanting to stay in the parallel world, but seeing how much it hurt Rose was something he couldn't bear witness to any longer. Anything but a smile on her face was something that tore at his hearts. He wanted nothing more than to hold her, to soothe her. He debated going to her room to see if she was okay, but fell nervous at the thought of interrupting her, seeing those sad brown eyes again. He couldn't tell her now. But he should. If something were to ever happen to her, she would need to know. He couldn't keep avoiding it.

He spent 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 23 seconds contemplating this decision, finally pushing himself up from the seat in search of her room.

He knocked softly when he got there, hearing her muffled sobs through the door. "Rose?" He asked gently. When no response came, he gently pushed her door open to find her curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed. He crossed the length to her in two strides, pulling her into his arms. Broken sobs came from her frail figure.

"He...left me...Doctor" Hiccup. "And" Hiccup. "You" Hiccup "left me" She broke down crying again, her head nestled in the Doctor's chest.

9 minutes, 4 seconds later, her sobbing quieted, and she tore herself away from the sound of his rhythmic double hearts, her brown eyes tinged red with sadness. The Doctor placed his hand beneath her chin, lifting her eyes to look into his. "Rose" She struggled to keep her head down, but he held more fiercely, forcing her eyes up to meet his. "Rose, look at me" She obliged. "Please, believe me, I will never leave you. Ever." _I love you _he thought quietly to himself.

She nodded solemnly, leaning in to hug him, holding her single beating hearts to his double, relishing every moment she was able to touch him. He shifted to lay her down her bed, but refused to leave her side, laying her head on his chest and singing songs of Gallifrey that lulled her to sleep.

And then it didn't happen.


	5. The Idiots Lantern

**After "The Idiots Lantern"**  
The Doctor and Rose sat in the Library, her feet tucked under her legs, a heavy book sprawled across her lap. She had changed out of her pink dress and jumper, opting instead for jeans and a t-shirt she bought somewhere on New Earth "I 3 New New York" it read. The Doctor sat on the opposite end of the couch, legs stretched across, his bare feet tapping an unintelligible rhythm against Rose's thigh.

_Tap tap tap tap._  
_Tap tap tap tap._

Rose placed a finger on the page she was reading, closed the book, and promptly swatted it at the Doctors menacing feet.

"Oi! What was that for?" He shrieked.

"You're driving me nutters with that foot tapping thing! I'm trying to read!" She opened her book to the page she was reading, freeing her finger as the bookmark.

The Doctor peeked over his own book at her, noticing how the soft light of the library made her already soft features seem even more delicate. He thought about her beautiful face, her beautiful face that had been stolen from her today. He tried to memorize everything about her. The way her lips pursed when she was concentrating hard on something, the way they jutted out ever so slightly and the way the way she'd bite her bottom lip in just the subtlest of ways. He noticed as she was reading, the way her eyes flew across the page, her brow furrowing ever so slightly when confused. He decided to memorize every curve of her, every dip, every particle of skin.

He thought back to this afternoon, when her face had been stolen from her. His perfect Rose. He was right in what he said to Detective Inspector Bishop, no matter how harshly he said it. If he lost his Rose, there was nothing in this universe that would stop him from getting her back. The Oncoming Storm was nothing compared to the wrath of those who took his silly little pink and yellow human from him.

Rose looked up from her own book, noticing the Doctors focus on her.

"Something on my face?" she touched her cheeks and forehead self consciously.

The Doctor smiled, "No, no, Rose, you're fine."

"Then stop starin, yeah?" she replied, a small grin playing across her face, and shifted her focus back to the giant book.

The Doctor grabbed a nearby sheet of paper, placing it in as a bookmark in _Pandora's Box, _setting the book on the table nearest him. He moved onto his elbows, observing Rose again. "I almost lost you today" he uttered, almost nervously.

Rose looked up from her book again, finding her bookmark and set it on her current page, placing it on the table next to her. She regarded the Doctor carefully, unsure where he was going with this. "You've almost lost me loads of times, Doctor" she retorted, somewhat bitterly. He grimaced at this revelation. It was true, he had almost lost her, quite a few times. "You've even left me once" she quietly revealed.

"Rose, I-" he shifted off his elbows to sit closer to her. "I'm sorry, I've told you that a million times, I couldn't...I couldn't change history" his excuses were thin, at best. "I never, want to leave you, ever" he continued solemnly.

She looked up at him, her cold stature thawing slightly. "I know" she breathed in deeply, turning towards him now. She smiled a bit, "I guess I was just a bit- " she trailed off, turning away from him.

"A bit what?" he asked, leaning over her body to try to see her face. She noticed him silently, pressing her lips together in a thin line. He didn't like that thin line, it meant she was hiding something.

"Jealous" she finally blurted out. To her surprise, and the Doctors, he started laughing.

"Jealous?" he cried out, exasperated "Jealous of what?" he asked, unable to control his laughter.

"Doctor" she looked pointedly at him, her eyes pleading "Please stop laughing" She turned her head away again.

He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to catch her eyes again, still chuckling. "Rose, Rose, look at me" She was stubborn. "Rose, you are the most...brilliant, perfect thing in this universe." she finally met his eyes, but he withdrew, suddenly very scared of what he had just said.

Unconsciously, she licked the fullness of her upper lip, meeting his eyes.

They sat there, staring at each other for what felt like hours, before the Doctor broke their gaze, jumping from the couch. "Right!" He yelled with a little too much enthusiasm. "Where to next?" he asked, bouncing with fake excitement.

And then it didn't happen.


End file.
